Four Champions League knockout meetings in five seasons…
In 2021, the Champions League quarter-final draw would pair Liverpool with Real Madrid and Chelsea with FC Porto. Due to specific logistical reasons, the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals would take place simultaneously, meaning that the final eight teams in the tournament would know the two teams that they were likely to face in the last four of the competition. Thus, Liverpool and Chelsea knew that if they won their quarter-final ties, there was a chance that the Reds and the Blues could meet in the Champions League semi-finals. However, while Chelsea would beat Porto 2-1 on aggregate, Liverpool would lose the rematch of the 2018 Champions League final, exiting the competition after a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Real Madrid. While some fans were happy at the prospect of not seeing yet another All-English tie in the latter stages of Europe’s elite competition, some fans had been dreaming of a revival of one of the best rivalries in the tournament’s history.
Between 2005 and 2009, Chelsea and Liverpool would meet in the Champions League knockout stages on four separate occasions. Three of these times would see the two elite Premier League clubs face off to decide one half of the Champions League final, with the other encounter taking place one round earlier. While this quartet of ties is generally not remembered as goalscoring classics, each two-legged affair has remained in the memory for reasons that require further explanation. For four out of a possible five Champions League campaigns, two of the Premier League’s best teams would choose to save their most intense and dramatic encounters of the season for the European stage, providing a footballing feast for fans both partisan and neutral. The following article will examine each of the four ties between Liverpool and Chelsea, understanding why the many titanic tussles between the Reds and the Blues have since gone down in Champions League history.
2005 UEFA Champions League semi-final: Chelsea 0-1 Liverpool (First Leg: 0-0) (Second Leg 0-1)
The first in this eventual quartet of Champions League knockout ties saw two teams separated by 31 points in the Premier League table do battle. Both Chelsea and Liverpool had begun the season with new managers brought in from the Iberian Peninsula.
Before this particular Champions League campaign, the summer of 2004 had seen Liverpool and Chelsea sack their long-time managers Gerard Houllier and Claudio Ranieri. For Liverpool, it meant ending a six-year association with the man who had led the team to the ‘Cup Treble’ (League Cup, FA Cup, UEFA Cup) in 2001 and 2nd place in the Premiership one year later. Meanwhile, Ranieri had spent four seasons at Stamford Bridge, during which he would also lead the team to a Premiership runners-up spot and take the side to the Champions League semi-finals. During his tenure, Ranieri would also bring in Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, William Gallas, Damien Duff, Wayne Bridge and Claude Makelele, who would all become part of Chelsea’s future successes.
However, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich (who had bought Chelsea in 2003) would look at the previous season’s results and desire to go one step further in both competitions. For this reason, he would turn to Jose Mourinho, who had won both two Portuguese league titles, the UEFA Cup and the Champions League with FC Porto over the previous two seasons. Meanwhile, Rafa Benitez had led Valencia to two La Liga titles and a UEFA Cup victory in three seasons at the Mestalla.
While both Mourinho and Benitez would arrive in English football off the back of winning league championships with Porto and Valencia, respectively, the experiences of these two managers during their debut Premier League seasons had led to differing results. Chelsea entered the Champions League semi-finals 11 points clear at the top of the Premier League standings and on the verge of becoming champions of England for the first time in fifty years. The team had already won the League Cup, and winning the Champions League would mark a Treble-winning season in Jose Mourinho’s first year in charge. In addition, the Blues had lost just five matches in all competitions all season.
Meanwhile, for Liverpool, the Champions League now represented their only chance of winning silverware in Benitez’s debut season. The Reds sat 5th in the Premier League four points shy of cross-city rivals Everton for the Champions League qualification places with three matches left. The team had suffered an embarrassing exit to Burnley in the FA Cup third round and had reached the League Cup Final only to lose 3-2 to Chelsea thanks to Mateja Kezman’s extra-time winner. Chelsea had also achieved the league double over Liverpool, with Joe Cole scoring the winner in both encounters.
Chelsea had swept through the Champions League group stage, qualifying for the last 16 with two matches remaining before topping the group one round later. Chelsea would win five out of six games against Porto, CSKA Moscow and Paris St-Germain, losing only to Mourinho’s former side once the Blues secured qualification. In the first knockout round, Chelsea would need to come from behind to defeat Barcelona. After losing 2-1 at the Camp Nou, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Frank Lampard, Damien Duff, and John Terry would help the Blues triumph 4-2 in the return leg at Stamford Bridge, knocking out Ronaldinho and Co 5-4 on aggregate. A 4-2 score-line would also win Chelsea the first leg of their quarter-final against Bayern Munich, also taking place at Stamford Bridge. However, the team would have to withstand a late flurry by the Bavarians in the second leg, losing 3-2 in the Olympiastadion but holding on to make the semi-finals with a 6-5 aggregate score.
Liverpool’s group stage progress has since become the stuff of legend. The club would begin their campaign with a 2-0 victory over Monaco, only to lose the next match to Olympiakos and draw 0-0 with Deportivo La Coruna in matchday three. The Reds would win the reverse fixture against Deportivo, only to lose to Monaco in the penultimate match of the group. To progress to the next stage, Liverpool would need to beat Olympiakos. On the night, the Greek side would take the lead after 26 minutes through Rivaldo’s goal. With Liverpool staring defeat in the face at half-time, a second-half comeback would see Florent Sinama Pongolle, Neil Mellor and inspirational captain Steven Gerrard score to give Liverpool a 3-1 win. This win would see Liverpool finish 2nd in Group A, qualifying for the knockout stages on goal difference. After this, Liverpool would breeze past Bayer Leverkusen 6-2 (3-1 1-3) in the second round before squeezing by Juventus 2-1 in the last eight (2-1 0-0).
First Leg Stamford Bridge, 27th April 2005
Usually, the objective of any team playing the first leg of a Champions League knockout tie is to win and give yourself less work to do in the second leg. Thus, the home side has the chance to capitalise on home comforts to set down a marker for your opponents ahead of the return leg. For the away team, there is the opportunity of achieving the more difficult task of winning away from home before setting the tie up nicely for the returning home leg in front of a partisan crowd. With these objectives in mind, Chelsea would welcome Liverpool to Stamford Bridge. However, the respective defences of both teams would turn out to be the victors on this night.
The match’s opening stages would see both teams head forward on numerous occasions, only for crosses into the penalty area to lead to nothing. The first real chance would go to Didier Drogba, who would fire a shot across the face of Jerzy Dudek’s goal, with strike partner Eidur Gudjohnsen not quick enough to divert the ball home. One minute later, Petr Cech would be alert to stop a trademark piledriver from John Arne Arne Riise from flying into his goal. Then, just past the 20-minute mark, Frank Lampard would fire over from four yards out with the net gaping. Chelsea was having the best of the game’s early chances, and further opportunities from Lampard and Drogba would also fail to find the target. Two other chances would almost lead to both teams taking the lead minutes before half-time. First, Cech would stretch to turn Milan Baros’s header past the post, while John Terry’s first-time effort at the other end would sail aimlessly wide of Jerzy Dudek’s goal with half-time beckoning.
The second half would be similar to the first, with Chelsea creating better chances to break the deadlock. Sami Hyypia’s last-ditch tackle would stop Joe Cole from pulling the trigger inside the Liverpool penalty area. In the 59th minute, John Terry would come close again, but his downward header from Arjen Robben’s ball would also miss the target. Minutes later, substitute Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse would selfishly shoot from a tight angle, with Luis Garcia rushing into the middle of the box. to receive the ball. In a match dominated by both team’s defensive efforts, Cisse’s shot would clear the crossbar. With the remaining 33 minutes failing to produce anything special, the first leg of this Champions League semi-final would end in a 0-0 draw. Everything was still up for grabs in the second leg at Anfield one week later.
Second Leg-Anfield, 3rd May 2005
In the time between the two legs, Chelsea would win the Premier League title. Chelsea claimed a 2-0 away victory over Bolton Wanderers to achieve the historical feat. On the same weekend, Liverpool could only draw 1-1 with Middlesbrough.
The first leg was a forgettable goalless stalemate defined by two strong defences restricting the lack of chances available for the opposition across 90 minutes. So it was fitting that it would take a moment of controversy to ultimately decide the reverse fixture (and the entire tie), guaranteeing this semi-final a place in Champions League history. Three minutes into the match at Anfield, Steve Finnan would pass the ball forward to Steven Gerrard, who would dink a pass over the Chelsea defence to set Milan Baros free in the Chelsea box. Baros would manage to raise his foot high and touch the ball before Petr Cech clattered into him. Amidst this coming together, the on-rushing Luis Garcia would flick the ball across his body towards goal, with his shot deflecting off John Terry and seemingly crossing the goal-line as William Gallas scrambled to clear the ball.
The Liverpool fans would celebrate, as would Garcia and his teammates. Referee Lubos Michel would award the goal as Chelsea players protested otherwise. There was no clear view showing that Garcia’s shot had crossed the line, and Gallas would argue that it hadn’t. In the resulting match reports, Garcia’s shot would become known as a ‘ghost goal’. However, despite Chelsea’s protests over the legitimacy of the goal, Cech’s ‘tackle’ on Baros was enough to warrant a Liverpool penalty, meaning that Liverpool could have scored within the first five minutes either way.
After this mystery goal, Chelsea would struggle to respond effectively. Twenty-seven minutes would pass before Didier Drogba would manage to force a save out of Jerzy Dudek. With pundits and fans worldwide still trying to comprehend whether the Liverpool goal should have stood, the half-time whistle would bring to an end a half that featured a moment of controversy but little else.
The second half would see Chelsea begin to take control of the game. The Blues knew that scoring an equaliser would be enough to take them through to the final through the away goals rule. However, Chelsea would find it difficult to break through Liverpool’s tough-tackling midfield and rock-solid defence. Even when Chelsea had their chances, they would fail to take them as Drogba would fire a free-kick high over the bar 61 minutes into the match. Four minutes later, Frank Lampard’s free-kick would require the services of Jerzy Dudek to prevent the ball from finding the bottom-left corner. A shot from Tiago 25 yards outside the box would go right of the posts.
As the second half developed, Chelsea was beginning to build pressure on Liverpool’s defence, but Liverpool was doing just enough to keep the league champions at bay. Drogba and Mateja Kezman would fail to find the target as increasingly clear-cut opportunities would start to go begging for Chelsea. Liverpool was putting their bodies on the line to prevent Chelsea equalising but were also looking to counter at a moment’s notice. One such counter-attack from Djibril Cisse would result in a shot just kissing the outside of the post as it went wide.
Six minutes of stoppage time would end the game as Liverpool tried to hang on. In the 95th minute, a ball into the box and a mix-up between Dudek, Kezman and Sami Hyypia saw the ball drop to Eidur Gudjohnsen on the right side of the six-yard box, but the Icelandic striker would fire the ball across the face of goal. That shot would be Chelsea’s last act. When referee Michel blew the final whistle, a raucous Anfield crowd would rejoice as Liverpool completed another famous victory at home. The four-time European Champions had defeated the newly-crowned champions of England and would soon take part in their first Champions League final since 1985. On the night and on aggregate, Liverpool had defeated Chelsea 1-0. However, the goal that ultimately decided the tie is still a matter of debate years later.
Three weeks later, Liverpool and AC Milan would create one of the greatest Champions League finals ever. 3-0 down at half-time, Liverpool would rally back to 3-3 through the goals of Steven Gerrard, Vladimir Smicer and Xabi Alonso to take the game to extra time. In the penalty shoot-out, Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek was the hero, saving Andrea Pirlo and Andrey Shevchenko’s penalty kicks to crown Liverpool as European champions for the fifth time.
2007 UEFA Champions League semi-final: Chelsea 1 (1-4 pens) 1 Liverpool (First Leg: 1-0) (Second Leg: 0-1)
Two years after the first encounters, Chelsea and Liverpool would play out another pair of intense and close-fought Champions League semi-final legs, with the winner going on to face AC Milan in the final. In something that could lead people to think that these two clubs were cosmically linked, the intervening 2005-06 Champions League campaign saw Chelsea and Liverpool draw each other in the group stage. However, both preliminary matches would end in 0-0 draws, meaning that these matches require no further discussion as part of this article. In this particle group, Liverpool would beat Chelsea to top the group by a single point. However, both teams would exit the competition at the round of 16 to Benfica and eventual winners Barcelona.
With just three weeks of the 2006-07 Premier League season remaining, 12 points would separate 2nd-placed Chelsea and third-placed Liverpool. Once again, Liverpool would go into their Champions League semi-final clash with Chelsea knowing that the Champions League represented their only chance of significant silverware for this season. On the other hand, Chelsea could harbour dreams of claiming a fabled quadruple of trophies. In addition to making the Champions League semi-finals, Chelsea were three points behind Manchester United in the Premier League title race. They were also set to face the Red Devils in the FA Cup final in the middle of May. Therefore, Chelsea would have three opportunities to add to the League Cup they had won back in February.
In the other matches between these two teams during this season, Liverpool would draw first blood, defeating Chelsea 2-1 to win the Community Shield, but the league fixtures would result in home victories for both sides. In September, Didier Drogba’s goal was enough for 10-man Chelsea to beat Liverpool at Stamford Bridge before the Reds triumphed 2-0 back at Anfield in January.
The Champions League draw would place Chelsea in Group A with holders Barcelona, Bundesliga runners-up Werder Bremen and Bulgarian champions Levski Sofia. Chelsea would gain maximum points from the first three matchdays, including a 1-0 home win over Barcelona. A 93rd-minute equaliser from Didier Drogba would earn the Blues a draw at the Camp Nou before Per Mertesacker’s goal saw Bremen end Chelsea unbeaten record. Finally, efforts from Andrey Shevchenko and Shaun Wright-Phillips were enough for Chelsea to top the group with a 2-0 win over Levski Sofia.
The second round saw Jose Mourinho come face-to-face with former employers Porto. Early goals from Raul Meireles (12′) and Shevchenko (16′) would end the away leg in a 1-1 stalemate. The return leg would begin with Porto taking a 15th-minute lead through the enigmatic Ricardo Quaresma. However, a second-half comeback enforced by goals from Arjen Robben and Michael Ballack would see Chelsea prevail as 2-1 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate. Chelsea would replicate these two scores in their quarter-final with Valencia, with a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge and a 2-1 win away at the Estadio Mestalla, guaranteeing Mourinho’s side another 3-2 aggregate win and a place in the Champions League semi-finals.
Concurrently with Chelsea’s efforts, Liverpool would face Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven, Turkish champions Galatasaray and Ligue 1 runners-up Bordeaux. Liverpool would begin their campaign with a 0-0 draw with PSV before winning four consecutive matches to qualify for the knockout stages. Even a 3-2 defeat to Galatasaray wouldn’t stop the Reds from topping Group C ahead of the Dutch champions. The Round of 16 would see Liverpool given the difficult task of finding a way past Barcelona. The first leg would see Rafa Benitez’s side pull off a famous victory at the Camp Nou. Despite reports of a bust-up between Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise dominating the back pages heading into the match, the two culprits would score to deliver a 2-1 win and two crucial away goals for Liverpool. Barca would win the return leg 1-0 to tie the aggregate score at 2-2, but the goals scored away at the Camp Nou were enough for Liverpool to progress to the last eight and second set of meetings with PSV Eindhoven.
If the two group stage matches with PSV had produced two clean sheets for Liverpool in the form of a 0-0 draw and a 2-0 home win, the Reds would continue this record in the quarter-final in a more comfortable fashion. The club would essentially win the tie in the first leg, triumphing 3-0 at the Philips Stadion before making the score-line academic with a 1-0 victory at Anfield. A 4-0 aggregate score was enough for Liverpool to reach the semi-finals and battle with Chelsea once more.
First Leg-Stamford Bridge, 25th April 2007
Straight from the kick-off, Chelsea would exert control over this first leg. Less than a minute in, John Terry’s long ball downfield would find Didier Drogba, and the Ivorian striker would nearly tee up Frank Lampard but would fail to find his man. Minutes later, Pepe would need to get down low to deflect Frank Lampard’s close-range half-volley wide of the net. Drogba was running rings around Liverpool’s defence, and Rafa Benitez would breathe a sigh of relief as Andrey Shevchenko miscued a shot across goal out for a throw-in. Further chances for Drogba and Lampard would also miss the target as it was quickly becoming a case of when, not if, Chelsea would score the first goal of the tie.
The answer would arrive in the 29th minute. A decisive run by Drogba down the right wing and into the Liverpool box would conclude with the tall striker setting up Joe Cole to prod home from seven yards and continue his excellent goalscoring record against the Reds. After earlier speculative efforts, Liverpool’s first clear-cut opportunity would fall to their captain. Dirk Kuyt would deliver a cross into Steven Gerrard, but he could only head the ball high and over Petr Cech’s crossbar. Despite this chance, Chelsea would end a dominant first-half with a one-goal lead.
Returning from the half-time break, Liverpool would begin the second half as the brighter of the two teams as wingers Bolo Zenden and Dirk Kuyt frequently got forward down the Chelsea wings. Steven Gerrard would manage to work Petr Cech as his 20-yard 25-yard volley would require the left hand of the Czech keeper to parry the ball out for a corner. However, the match would start to break down into a series of fouls and undercooked chances forays forward. Replacement Liverpool striker Peter Crouch would get his head on a Gerrard free-kick at one end, while Drogba would sting the gloves of Pepe Reina with a powerful drive at the other. Reina would pull out a more impressive save from another Lampard half-volley following a Drogba flick-on. Liverpool relied on their goalkeeper to simply keep the score at 1-0, considering that they were struggling to find an away goal down the opposite end of the pitch. Daniel Agger would try his luck on the verge of stoppage time with a 40-yard strike, but Cech could catch the ball with both hands.
After one more chance for Drogba, a header wide from a Lampard corner, the referee would blow for full-time, and Chelsea would celebrate winning the first leg of the Champions League semi-final 1-0. However, both teams would need to improve their consistency in front of goal to win the second leg at Anfield.
Second Leg-Anfield, 1st May 2007
Chelsea had started the Stamford Bridge match the better of the two teams, but the reverse was true at Anfield. Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard would attempt to create early chances to score but without much luck. Meanwhile, Chelsea would put in some solid defensive challenges to protect their slender aggregate lead. However, Liverpool would manage to take the lead after 22 minutes of action.
Liverpool would receive a free-kick high and wide on the left-hand side. From this position, you would expect Steven Gerrard to whip the ball into the Chelsea six-yard box. Instead, the Liverpool captain would play a pass into Daniel Agger, who would leave his marker, and side-foot the ball past Petr Cech from 15 yards. Chelsea would have a good chance to equalise just after the 30-minute mark, but Pepe Reina would parry away Didier Drogba’s shot from the edge of the box. After starting the match well, Liverpool’s defence would soon come to the fore, and the likes of John Arne Riise, Jamie Carragher, and Javier Mascherano would earn their salt to halt Chelsea’s offensive efforts. Like the first leg, the home side would head into half-time with a one-goal lead in a match dominated by the defences.
If the first half had ended with the defences on top, then the second half would begin just the same. The majority of the action wouldn’t go beyond the middle of the pitch, with goalscoring chances becoming hard to come by. Looking to score in both legs, Joe Cole would fail to hit the target with a 20-yard effort. If Chelsea were struggling to find the target, then Liverpool would soon threaten to score the second goal that would put them ahead on aggregate. In the 55th minute, a textbook header from Peter Crouch would leave Petr Cech scrambling to clear the ball away. Two minutes later, Dirk Kuyt would head the ball against the crossbar, with Cech standing motionless. Michael Essien, covering for Ricardo Carvalho at centre-back, would defend shots from John Arne Riise and Jermaine Pennant, and even Didier Drogba would be called upon to clear a Liverpool corner.
With now less than 20 minutes remaining, the five-time European champions were looking the likelier of the two teams to reach the final taking place in Rome on 23rd May. However, the Chelsea players would soon look to disprove that notion. In the 75th minute, John Obi Mikel would find Ashley Cole running down the Liverpool by-line. Cole would drag the ball back across the box only for Drogba to skew the ball over the bar from three yards. The Ivorian would have another chance to score 10 minutes later but would fail to latch onto Salomon Kalou’s ball through the Liverpool defence. After further opportunities late on, the second leg would remain tied at the end of 90 minutes. With the score reading 1-1 on aggregate, with both teams failing to find an away goal, the match would continue into 30 minutes of extra time followed by a penalty shoot-out if required.
The first 10 minutes of extra time would not produce anything of note until Xabi Alonso decided to shoot from distance in the 100th minute of play. Cech would stop Alonso’s shot but would ultimately fail to keep hold of the ball, with Dirk Kuyt tapping the ball home to put Liverpool ahead on the night and on aggregate. Kuyt, the Liverpool player and the fans inside Anfield went crazy, only for the referee to chalk the goal off for offside against the Dutchman. The first half of extra time would end with the tie still poised at 1-1 with 15 minutes plus penalties lying ahead. With most of the players now out on their feet and both teams now partially thinking about penalties, clear-cut chances would start to become fewer and far between. However, Liverpool and Chelsea would still have opportunities to steal the game. With five minutes left, late substitute Shaun Wright-Phillips would drill a ball across the goal-line, only for Didier Drogba to completely miss his kick. After hitting the woodwork and having a goal disallowed, Dirk Kuyt would have one final chance to seal the victory. As the ball fell to his feet, Kuyt would shoot for glory, only for Cech to push his shot to safety. After that, the only thing left to separate the two teams was penalties.
After winning the coin toss, John Terry would decide to take the penalties in front of the Chelsea fans with Liverpool shooting first. Bolo Zenden would take the first penalty for Liverpool and score, sending Petr Cech the wrong way. Chelsea’s Dutch winger Arjen Robben would have the chance to level the score, but Pepe Reina would guess correctly, saving low to his left. Xabi Alonso, who had scored a penalty in the famous ‘Miracle in Istanbul’ two years previously, would successfully double Liverpool’s lead, burying the ball deep into the bottom-right corner, despite Cech guessing correctly. After Robben’s miss, Chelsea’s regular penalty taker Frank Lampard would manage to put Chelsea on the board, powerfully sending the ball high into the top corner out of Reina’s reach. Liverpool’s regular taker Steven Gerrard would respond, sending Cech the wrong way to extend Liverpool’s lead to 3-1.
Chelsea’s extra-time substitute Geremi was next, but Reina would again guess correctly, saving to his right, keeping the score at 3-1. Now, Dirk Kuyt would have the chance to send Liverpool into a second Champions League final in three years. After failing to find the net on previous occasions during the night, Dirk Kuyt would step up and drill a low shot deep into the left-hand corner, sending Liverpool into the final and sending everyone in red crazy. Kuyt would rightfully have his chance to wheel away, running first to celebrate with fellow penalty hero Pepe Reina before their teammates mobbed them. After 210 minutes of play, Liverpool had triumphed over Chelsea once again.
Three weeks later, Liverpool and AC Milan would meet in a rematch of the ‘Miracle in Istanbul’. As was the case in 2005, the Rossoneri would score first through veteran striker Pippo Inzaghi. However, this time, Liverpool would not come back. Another goal from Inzaghi would earn Milan their seventh Champions League trophy, with Milan successfully exorcising the demons from two years earlier.
2008 UEFA Champions League semi-final: Liverpool 3-4 Chelsea (First Leg: 1-1) (Second Leg: 2-3)
Twelve months on from that dramatic penalty shoot-out, Liverpool and Chelsea would play each other in the Champions League semi-finals for the third time in four seasons. This time, the winner of this tie would face either Manchester United or Barcelona in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium for the chance to become European champions. If the Red Devils ultimately prevailed against Barca, either the Reds or the Blues could form one half of the first all-English final in Champions League history.
In the Premier League standings, nine points would separate 2nd-placed Chelsea and 4th-placed Liverpool heading into this European tie. Once again, victory in Europe was the only Liverpool fans could look towards for a trophy, while Chelsea still had a chance of claiming a Premier League/Champions League double. The Blues had earlier failed in their attempt to claim another League Cup, losing 2-1 to Tottenham at Wembley, while the team sat just three points behind Manchester United with three league matches remaining. The two league matches between these two teams had ended in draws, a 1-1 draw in August and a 0-0 draw in February. However, Chelsea would have overall bragging rights heading into this continental two-parter, having defeated Liverpool 2-0 in the League Cup fifth round back in December.
Group A in the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League would draw Liverpool’s name out of the hat with Portuguese champions Porto, Ligue 1 runners-up Marseille and Turkish Superliga runners-up Besiktas. Despite being presented with a reasonably favourable draw, Liverpool would find themselves staring down the barrel of elimination after three out of six matches. Liverpool would begin with a 1-1 draw with Porto before successive defeats to Marseille (0-1), and Besiktas (2-1) left the Reds bottom of the group with just one point to their name. However, Liverpool would come roaring back, and three emphatic victories would see the Reds qualify for the knockout stages. First, Rafael Benitez’s men would demolish Besiktas 8-0 at Anfield, with Peter Crouch (x2), Yossi Benayoun (x3), Steven Gerrard and Ryan Babel (x2) providing the goods when it mattered most. Three weeks later, a brace from Fernando Torres and further goals for Gerrard Crouch would see off Porto by a 4-1 score. Finally, a trip to the south of France would see the men in red return with a 4-0 win and second place in Group A.
After losing to AC Milan in the previous year’s final, Liverpool would exact some revenge against city rivals and Serie A holders Inter Milan. Late goals from Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard would see the team beat 10-man Inter at Anfield following Marco Materazzi’s red card. In the second leg, another Milan dismissal, this time for Nicolas Burdisso, and a Fernando Torres goal were enough for Liverpool to win at the San Siro and progress to the quarter-finals with a 3-0 aggregate score. In the last eight, Liverpool would face Premier League rivals Arsenal. Goals for Emmanuel Adebayor and Dirk Kuyt saw the first leg end in a 1-1 draw, with Liverpool escaping North London with an away goal. In the second leg, the two teams would serve up a classic encounter. Tied 1-1 at half-time through Abou Diaby and Sami Hyypia’s goals, Torres would put Liverpool 2-1 after 69 minutes. However, Adebayor would score Arsenal’s second away goal of the night with just six minutes remaining, momentarily putting Arsenal through. However, an 86th-minute Steven Gerrard penalty and a 91st-minute Ryan Babel winner would carry the Reds through to another Champions League semi-final.
In Group B, Chelsea would face Valencia, Bundesliga runners-up Schalke and Norwegian champions Rosenborg. The Blues would begin with an unimpressive 1-1 with Rosenborg, the lowest-ranked team in the competition. Two days after the game, Jose Mourinho would shockingly resign from his position as Chelsea manager, allegedly due to a falling-out with club owner Roman Abramovich. Mourinho’s replacement Avram Grant would help Chelsea continue their unbeaten record for the rest of the group stage, winning back-to-back matches against Valencia (1-2) and Schalke (2-0). In the reverse fixtures, Chelsea would register 0-0 draws with the teams from Germany and Spain on either side of a 4-0 thrashing of Rosenborg in Norway, topping Group B in unconvincing fashion.
On 19th February, Chelsea would travel to Greece to face Olympiacos in the Round of 16. The match would end goalless. Returning to Stamford Bridge, the Blues would comfortably put away the Greek champions 3-0 with goals from Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard and Salomon Kalou. Chelsea later needed the experience of Ballack and Lampard to defeat Turkish champions Fenerbahçe. In the first leg, Fener would dispatch Chelsea 2-1 in front of a home crowd in Istanbul, with Avram Grant’s men lucky to escape with an away goal thanks to an ‘own goal’ from Brazilian striker Deivid. In London, Ballack and Lampard would top and tail a 2-0 win to set up another semi-final tie with Liverpool.
First Leg– Anfield, 22nd April 2008
The previous semi-finals between these two teams had produced intense, hard-fought sets of matches where one goal alone was enough to decide the outcome. The first leg of this particular last-four fixture would provide more of the same.
The first few minutes would produce a few half-chances and plenty of defensive clearances, but not much else. Reds striker Fernando Torres would have the first proper goalscoring chance 15 minutes in but would struggle to direct the ball home from a tight angle. The Spaniard would have the game’s next best opportunity after half an hour, collecting a pass from Steven Gerrard before bearing down on Petr Cech’s goal. However, the Czech keeper would get down to block Torres’ attempted shot. With Chelsea struggling to create at the other end of the field, it was no surprise that Liverpool would take the lead two minutes before half time. A series of catastrophic Chelsea defensive errors would finish with Claude Makelele failing to clear a lofted ball into the area and Dirk Kuyt finishing from close range. The Blues would go into half-time knowing that they needed to improve to earn anything from this first leg.
The second half would begin the same way the first half had ended, with Liverpool in control and Chelsea failing to muster anything that could be considered a clear shot on goal. Early on in this half, Liverpool’s new Dutch winger Ryan Babel would prove his worth, picking out Xabi Alonso for a long shot that would deflect wide for a corner before sending a dipping 25-yard effort close to Cech’s goal. Frank Lampard would sum up Chelsea’s night up to that point, failing to connect with a Didier Drogba drag-back inside the six-yard box, sending the ball wide of the target just after the hour mark. However, finding himself in space on the left-hand side, Florent Malouda would drive into the Liverpool area, cut onto his right foot and release a low shot that required the attention of Javier Mascherano to steer the ball wide of the goal. Despite missing these chances, Chelsea was starting to show more attacking intent and find gaps in the home defence as the game wore on. Despite this, Steven Gerrard would almost double Liverpool’s lead, unleashing a volley that Petr Cech would brilliantly divert over the bar.
Referee Konrad Plautz would play an extra four minutes of stoppage time, but Liverpool looked like they would be travelling to Stamford Bridge with an aggregate lead. However, in the 94th minute, Salomon Kalou would deliver a bouncing cross into the Reds penalty area. John Arne Riise, who had earlier replaced injured left-back Fabio Aurelio, would attempt to clear the ball. Caught in two minds, the Norwegian would instead head the ball past Pepe Reina into the Liverpool net. In an unexpected twist considering the story of the match, Liverpool had gifted Chelsea an equaliser, and an away goal, with the last act of the game. A game that Liverpool rightfully deserved to win would end in a 1-1 draw, with everything to play for at Stamford Bridge eight days later.
Second Leg– Stamford Bridge, 30th April 2008
The intervening Premier League fixtures would reflect the moods of the two teams heading out of the first leg. A downcast Liverpool would unimpressively draw 2-2 with relegation candidates Birmingham City. On the same day, a buoyed Chelsea would defeat title rivals Manchester United 2-1 after a Michael Ballack brace to draw level with the Red Devils at the Premier League summit.
Before this match, the last seven Champions League matches between Chelsea and Liverpool had produced the scores 0-0, 1-0, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0, 1-0 and 1-1. This particular match would end similarly, after 90 minutes.
The two teams would enter the Stamford Bridge amid driving rain. Six minutes would pass before Didier Drogba aimed a 25-yard toward the bottom corner. Pepe Reina would react well to push the ball out for a Chelsea corner. Five minutes later, Drogba’s opposite number Fernando Torres would provide Liverpool’s first attempt on goal, only for Petr Cech to save. As was the case in the first leg, the home side was having the better of the early goings, and Drogba would collect a pinpoint pass from Frank Lampard, only take the resulting shot on his weaker foot, with the ball slowly rolling across Reina’s goal and wide. Soon afterwards, long-range efforts from Michael Essien and Michael Ballack would sting the gloves of Reina in the Reds goal before Chelsea’s attackers would finally get their reward.
With Liverpool’s defence retreating, Salomon Kalou would cut inside Sami Hyypia before hitting a shot that Pepe Reina would fail to truly clear. The Spanish goalkeeper could only parry the ball back into danger, where the on-rushing Didier Drogba would fire home from a tight angle to give Chelsea the lead. Chelsea would continue to pepper the Liverpool goal with chances for the rest of the half, with Ballack ending the half hitting the stanchion with a 30-yard free-kick. At half-time, Chelsea led 1-0 on the night and 2-1 on aggregate.
After the break, Liverpool would start to come alive. Three minutes in, Petr Cech would block a quick Dirk Kuyt flick with his leg in a great show of agility. At the other end, great work from Drogba and Ballack would lead to Lampard firing a cushioned volley straight at Pepe Reina. Around 10 minutes later, Sami Hyypia’s clearance would tee up Joe Cole, only for him to find the Liverpool goalkeeper’s gloves. A minute later, the home side would equalise. Beginning at the right-hand touchline, Yossi Benayoun would run inside, evading a pair of Chelsea challenges before deftly slipping the ball through to Fernando Torres on the edge of the box. The Spanish striker would quickly sort his feet out before sliding the ball into the net. After this goal, Steven Gerrard and Michael Essien would resort to long-range efforts, with neither man proving successful. In the 75th minute, the Ghanaian midfielder would try again, running down the right wing before cutting into the box and evading the challenges of Mascherano and Alonso only to shoot and hit the side netting.
Essien’s shot would be the best chance that either team would have for the rest of standard time, with both teams cautiously trying to avoid conceding a late goal. After two minutes of stoppage time, the referee would blow his whistle for full time. For the second year running, extra time and possibly penalties would decide the winner between these two teams.
Two minutes into extra time, a Liverpool corner would find Sami Hyypia standing unmarked in the penalty area, only for the Finnish defender to direct a free header wide of the right-hand post. A minute later, Jamie Carragher’s last-ditch tackle would halt Didier Drogba’s impressive run into the Liverpool box. Michael Essien would soon see his goal ruled out for offside. The efforts on goal were coming thick and fast as both sides did not want another penalty shoot-out. However, one side would receive a penalty in the 97th minute. Sami Hyypia would attempt a diving clearance just inside the penalty area, only for Michael Ballack to nick the ball away and for Hyypia to bring him down. Referee Roberto Rosetti would point to the spot. Frank Lampard would step to take the spot-kick. Lampard, who had missed Chelsea’s last match due to the death of his mother, would hold his nerve, sending Pepe Reina the wrong way to put Chelsea 2-1 ahead (3-2 agg) in extra time sparking an emotional celebration from the 30-year-old.
Quickly looking to equalise, Xabi Alonso would direct a header straight at Petr Cech. Ryan Babel would nearly earn Liverpool a penalty after seemingly being brought down by Ricardo Carvalho. However, referee Rosetti would ignore Liverpool protests. The last chance of the half would go to Didier Drogba and Chelsea. Nicolas Anelka would exchange passes with Florent Malouda on the right wing before delivering a low cross to Drogba, who would run to the near post and score with a first-time shot. With his second goal of the night, Drogba had put Chelsea 3-1 up on the night and 4-2 ahead on aggregate. Liverpool would need to score twice in 15 minutes to reach the final once again.
In the second half of extra time, Chelsea would look to protect their lead. However, Liverpool would have claims for another penalty three minutes in as Sami Hyypia went down under the outstretched foot of Drogba. However, once again, Roberto Rosetti would not point to the spot. At the other end, Drogba would go for the hat-trick, only to hit his free-kick into the Liverpool wall. With Chelsea now starting to get comfortable, Liverpool would begin to make things interesting. In the 26th minute of extra time, Ryan Babel would let fly from 35 yards, and Petr Cech would only help the ball into the Chelsea net. However, the goal would not set up a grandstand finish, and Chelsea would hold on to win 3-2 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate. To earn their double, Chelsea would need to beat Manchester United twice, first in the Premier League title race, second in the Champions League final ten days later.
A week before the Champions League final, Chelsea would lose the Premier League title to Manchester United on the final day. The Blues could only draw with Bolton, while the Red Devils beat Wigan 2-0 to retain the trophy. Ten days later, Manchester United would directly triumph over Chelsea by winning the Champions League Final. After goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Frank Lampard had taken the match to extra time, Chelsea’s John Terry and Nicolas Anelka would miss in the resulting penalty shoot-out to hand the Champions League trophy to Alex Ferguson’s men for the second time.
2009 UEFA Champions League quarter-final: Liverpool 5-7 Chelsea (First Leg: 1-3) (Second Leg: 4-4)
The final tie in this series between Liverpool and Chelsea would occur one knockout round earlier in the 2008-09 Champions League quarter-finals. At this slightly earlier point of the season, just three points would separate Liverpool (2nd), and Chelsea (3rd) in the Premier League standings as both teams did battle on two fronts with one month of the season remaining. Domestically, Liverpool had claimed the bragging rights both home and away. In later October, Xabi Alonso’s early goal was enough for the Reds to win 1-0 at Stamford Bridge. The following February, a late Fernando Torres double (89′, 90+4′) would see Rafa Benitez’s side take maximum points back at Anfield.
The 2008-09 season would see Liverpool enjoy their best form under Rafa Benitez’s, and this reflected in their Champions League performances before facing Chelsea. The group stage draw would place the Reds in Group D with PSV, Marseille and Atletico Madrid. Demonstrating their abilities, Liverpool would progress through the group stage unbeaten, winning four and drawing two of their six matches. The two draws would come in back-to-back games with Atletico Madrid, with both encounters ending 1-1, while Liverpool would register home and away victories over both Marseille (2-1, 1-0) and PSV (both 3-1). Only Bayern Munich would match Liverpool’s points total of 14 at the end of the group stage.
As a result of their group stage exploits, the Reds would face nine-time winners and reigning Spanish champions Real Madrid in the second round. A tense first leg a the Bernabeu would see Liverpool withstand a host of Real Madrid chances before Yossi Benayoun would head home a crucial away goal in the 82nd minute to give the away team a 1-0 win. Two weeks later at Anfield, Liverpool would produce a more emphatic win to reach the last eight. A brace from Steven Gerrard and further goals from Fernando Torres and Andrea Dossena saw the Reds triumph 4-0 to knock out Los Blancos.
After parting ways with Avram Grant the previous summer, Chelsea would begin the new season with former Brazil and Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. One of Scolari’s first tasks involved navigating his way through a Champions League group containing Roma, Bordeaux and Romanian side CFR Cluj. Chelsea would begin their latest Champions League campaign with an impressive 4-0 home win over Bordeaux before following up this performance with an unsatisfactory goalless draw with Cluj, the fourth lowest-ranked team in the competition. A John Terry header would see Chelsea beat Roma in London before losing 3-1 at the Stadio Olimpico in the reverse fixture two weeks later. A 1-1 draw with Bordeaux would leave Chelsea needing to beat CFR Cluj to qualify for the next round ahead of the French side. A 2-1 win for Chelsea coupled with Roma’s win over Bordeaux saw Chelsea qualify 2nd from Group A in unconvincing fashion.
By the time Chelsea played their second-round matches against Juventus in late February, Scolari was gone. The board would install Russia manager Guus Hiddink as the club’s interim manager until the season’s end. A 12th-minute Didier Drogba goal would see Chelsea win the first leg 1-0 at Stamford Bridge. In Turin, the Blues and Juventus would play out an entertaining 2-2 draw. Vincenzo Iaquinta would give Juve the lead after 19 minutes, but Michael Essien would equalise with an away goal on the stroke of half-time. Alessandro Del Piero would successfully convert a 74th-minute penalty kick to give the Italian side hope, but Drogba would score nine minutes later to confirm Chelsea’s 3-2 aggregate victory.
First Leg-Anfield, 8th April 2009
The three two-legged semi-finals that preceded this quarter-final had produced 11 goals across approximately 780 minutes of action. The two matches that Liverpool and Chelsea would play in April 2009 would see 12 goals scored across 180 minutes. Compared to the tight, defence-driven games of previous years, this 2009 Champions League quarter-final would produce two goal-laden matches. The first leg at Anfield would set a precedent early.
After just three minutes of play, Chelsea was thanking right-back Branislav Ivanovic, for preventing an early Liverpool goal. From a corner, Dirk Kuyt would fire a shot from the edge of the area, and only the head of the Serbian defender would stop the ball from hitting the net. However, if Kuyt’s shot were a warning, then the real thing would happen just moments later. After a flick on found Fernando Torres in the box, Chelsea centre-back Alex would try to clear only to find Kuyt. With his back to goal, the Dutchman would back-heel the ball to Alvaro Arbeloa on the right-hand edge of the box. Arbeloa would deliver a first-time cross to Torres just south of the penalty spot, and the Spanish striker would caress the ball home first-time. After 6 minutes, Liverpool was ahead, and Chelsea needed to get into the game.
Two minutes later, Salomon Kalou would dispossess a hesitant Fabio Aurelio on the left wing and feed Didier Drogba on the edge of the Liverpool box. However, the Ivorian would shoot straight at the advancing Pepe Reina, wasting the opportunity. Soon, Reds defender Martin Skrtel would need to clear to stop Michael Essien from heading the ball in, while John Terry would need to do the same to stop Fernando Torres from doubling his tally at the other end. In the 23rd minute, Drogba would play in Florent Malouda; the Frenchman’s shot from the left fizzing past the left-hand post. At the other end, Torres was serving as the Reds most likely goalscorer and would dispossess Frank Lampard in the midfield only to lift his shot over the bar from 25 yards out. Minutes later, Michael Ballack would find Drogba, but again the Chelsea striker would fluff his lines in front of goal, clearing Pepe Reina’s crossbar with his effort.
Compared to previous ties, this first leg was already providing end-to-end action and plenty of goalscoring opportunities. On the whole, Chelsea was enjoying the better chances, and this was proven when the team equalised six minutes before half-time. From a Florent Malouda corner, Branislav Ivanovic would lose his marker and head the ball home from the six-yard line to bring Chelsea level. However, just as Chelsea had finished celebrating, Dirk Kuyt would combine excellently with Fernando Torres before Petr Cech got down to stop the Dutchman from re-establishing Liverpool’s one-goal advantage instantly. After this chance, the two teams would head into the half-time break level after a fascinating first half.
After a high-octane first half, the second would certainly live up to the same standards. Steven Gerrard, who had a quiet first half, would have the first decent chance of the second period in the 50th minute, cutting inside from the left to pull a shot just to the left of Reina’s goal. One minute later, Didier Drogba would pounce on a poor pass from Fabio Aurelio, play a one-two with Frank Lampard and bear down on the Liverpool goal. With Pepe Reina out of his goal, Drogba would direct an off-balance shot towards the far corner. Only the goal-line clearance of Jamie Carragher would prevent Chelsea from taking the lead. Down the other end, Xabi Alonso and Steven Gerrard would cleverly combine to set free Fernando Torres, only for Torres to shoot wide.
In a match this free-flowing, it was a given that another goal was incoming, but for which side would the goal arrive. With 62 minutes on the clock, a Frank Lampard corner would again find the head of Ivanovic, with the Serb again losing his marker to score his second goal of the night. After falling behind for the first time, Liverpool would hope to respond and respond quickly, but Chelsea wouldn’t give them the chance to do anything. Five minutes after going ahead, Michael Ballack would find Malouda on the left wing with a delightful through-ball. After catching up to the ball, Malouda would immediately cross to Drogba, who would poke the ball home. After taking an early lead, Liverpool was now facing a 3-1 first-leg defeat, with Chelsea having scored three away goals at Anfield. The Reds would need to find something, either in this match or in the return leg, even to have any hope of reaching a third successive Champions League semi-final. However, they would not find it in this match.
The only chance of note the Liverpool would have following the Chelsea goal would be a 30-yard Xabi Alonso effort, which caused Petr Cech to leave his feet and turn the ball over the bar. However, after a free-flowing first half, Chelsea had taken a giant step towards the Champions League semi-finals, with a 3-1 away against Liverpool. For the Reds, a win plus three away goals were now the requirement at Stamford Bridge.
Second Leg-Stamford Bridge, 14th April 2009
Between the two legs, Liverpool would thrash Blackburn Rovers 4-0 at Anfield, while Chelsea would lead Bolton Wanders 4-0 after 60 minutes, only for the Wanderers to score three times and threaten a draw. However, the Blues would eventually hold on for a 4-3 win.
Both teams would take to the Stamford Bridge turf on 14th April without their talismanic club captains. A yellow card picked up in the first leg meant that John Terry would miss the match through suspension, while Steven Gerrard was missing through injury. Frank Lampard and Jamie Carragher would wear the captain’s armbands, while Ricardo Carvalho and Yossi Benayoun would replace their missing teammates. The pressure was firmly on Liverpool heading into this match. The minimum requirements for the Reds: a minimum 3-0 win to progress directly to the semi-finals at Chelsea’s expense, or a 3-1 win to take the tie to extra time. Knowing what they needed to do, it was no surprise that Liverpool registered the first meaningful chance of the match. However, it was a surprise that this chance would not arrive until the 13th minute.
Picking the ball up in the right channel, Dirk Kuyt would drive inside and feed Yossi Benayoun 25 yards from goal. Thinking quickly, Benayoun would flick the ball to the feet of Fernando Torres, who would push forward in the Chelsea box only to catch the ball wrong and miss the goal entirely. One minute later, Frank Lampard would register Chelsea’s first chance, directing a free-kick to the left of the Liverpool net. Just before the 20-minute mark, Fabio Aurelio would produce a more accurate free-kick from a more difficult position to put Liverpool ahead on the night. Stationed on the right 35 yards from goal, the Brazilian defender would usually whip the ball into the penalty area to create something for one of his teammates. On this occasion, Aurelio would go for goal, curling the ball low into the right of the goal left unguarded by Petr Cech. It was a thing of beauty, the type of goal to get Liverpool going on their hunt for goals.
Chelsea was rightly taken aback and would spend the next 10 minutes trying to prevent a second goal. However, during another Aurelio free-kick, first leg hero Branislav Ivanovic would pull down Reds centre-back Martin Skrtel, and referee Luis Medina Cantalejo would award a penalty to Liverpool. With Gerrard out of action, Xabi Alonso would step up, sending Cech the wrong way to make the score 2-0. After 28 minutes, the aggregate score now read Chelsea 3 Liverpool 3. Another goal for Rafa Benitez’s men would change the complexion of the tie entirely.
Reeling from the two goals conceded, Chelsea would react, and Liverpool needed a last-ditch header from Alonso to stop Lampard from scoring. Later, Ivanovic would try to make amends for the penalty, getting his head on a Didier Drogba free-kick. However, the ball would fall a foot wide of the right-hand post. On the verge of half-time, a series of Liverpool corners would result in Alonso finding Dirk Kuyt. The Netherlands international would almost score Liverpool’s third goal if not for the efforts of Petr Cech to reach behind his head and acrobatically bat the ball away from danger. This highlight summed up the first half: Liverpool was in control, while Chelsea was rocking, trying to maintain an advantage over its fierce rivals.
After Liverpool’s performance in the first half, Chelsea needed something to settle their nerves. However, before the Blues could calm themselves down, Liverpool would almost take a 3-0 lead. Yossi Benayoun would play a ball through to Lucas Leiva, who would successfully drag Cech out of his goal before offloading the ball to Fabio Aurelio. With Fernando Torres and Dirk Kuyt to aim for, the left-back would balloon an attempted cross out of play. A let-off for Chelsea, who would soon get lucky as a result of poor Liverpool defending. Substitute Nicolas Anelka would pick the ball up in the right-hand channel before driving down the touchline and reaching the by-line. Before he got there, the enigmatic Frenchman would unleash a low but powerful cross that Didier Drogba get the slightest of touches to divert the ball towards Pepe Reina. However, Reina would fail to account for Drogba’s touch and would end up palming the ball into his own net. Six minutes into the second half, Liverpool’s shot-stopper had gifted Chelsea a goal and made and made the Merseyside club’s job a lot harder.
Six minutes later, Chelsea would score again. Presented with a direct free-kick 30 yards from the Liverpool goal, Brazilian defender Alex would step up and try his luck ahead of teammates Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack. Utilising a method that favoured power over finesse, Alex would take a long run-up before putting the full force of his body into striking the ball. The follow-through would even lift him off the ground. The resulting shot would swerve away from Reina and hit the netting before the Spanish goalkeeper could scramble across his line and get a glove on the ball. If Aurelio’s free-kick had been a thing of beauty primarily due to its technique, then Alex’s corresponding effort for Chelsea was beautiful in its own way for representing power in its purest form.
As Liverpool’s two goals had stunned Chelsea in the first half, now the opposite was true. Javier Mascherano would make Cech work, angling a shot to the keeper’s right, with Ivanovic following up to clear the danger. However, Chelsea would soon counter-attack, with Florent Malouda sending Drogba into the clear down the right wing. Driving into the box, Drogba would pull the ball back for Michael Ballack, whose weak shot instead found the gloves of Liverpool’s man between the sticks. While Chelsea struggled to kill off the tie at one end, Fernando Torres’ speculative 30-yard effort would miss the Chelsea goal by inches. In the 76th minute, Chelsea probably thought they had killed the game off. Michael Ballack would intercept a Xabi Alonso pass before delicately thread the ball to Didier Drogba. Drogba would drive into the box before sending the ball down the line for Frank Lampard to slide home. In 25 second-half minutes, Chelsea had come from 2-0 down to lead 3-2, extending their aggregate lead to three goals. The Blues were now turning on the style in front of their home supporters and crucially were not ready to stop scoring. However, neither were Liverpool.
In the 81st minute, Lucas Leiva’s shot from outside the box would deflect off of John Obi Mikel past Petr Cech. Two minutes later, Liverpool would score again, taking the lead back from Chelsea. Xabi Alonso would find Albert Riera, and the sub would find Dirk Kuyt at the back post to score from six yards. With seven minutes left, the aggregate score read: Chelsea 6 Liverpool 5. If the Reds managed to score again without reply, they would be heading through at Chelsea’s expense. However, this classic Champions League match would have one final sting in the tail. On the verge of stoppage time, good work from Drogba and Anelka on the wing led to the latter passing to Frank Lampard, who would lift the ball into the net to make the score 4-4. That goal would mark the end of an extraordinary Champions League match where the lead would change hands three times, and with three goals scored in the final 14 minutes of the game. However, throughout all of this, Chelsea had managed to hold onto their lead from the first leg. After 180 minutes, the final score would read Chelsea 7 Liverpool 5. For Guus Hiddink and his men, a semi-final with Barcelona would come next.
(c) Daily Mail 
(c) The Irish Sun
One week after a 4-4 draw knocked them out of the Champions League, another 4-4draw, this time with Arsenal, would wreck Liverpool’s Premier League title challenge. Rafa Benitez’s team would finish the league season in 2nd place for their best finish since 2002, but the Reds would ultimately end the season trophyless. Meanwhile, Chelsea would fall at the hands of Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals, albeit in controversial fashion. After a 0-0 first leg, Michael Essien would give Chelsea a 9th-minute lead in the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge. In addition, Barca would finish the match a man down after Eric Abidal’s red card, and Chelsea would dominate most of the game. However, referee Tom Henning Ovrebo would turn down four Chelsea penalty appeals, with the players becoming increasingly furious with these decisions. Their fury would reach a zenith when Andres Iniesta scored a stunning goal with the last kick of the game to win the match for Barcelona and a young Pep Guardiola. Despite this exit, Chelsea would end the season by winning the FA Cup at Wembley after a 2-1 win over Everton.
(c) Premier League 
(c) SPORTBible
Conclusion
Thus brings to an end the five-year Champions League rivalry between Chelsea and Liverpool. These two teams would play ten matches across five consecutive European campaigns, resulting in 23 goals (Liverpool 11, Chelsea 12) across 1,140 minutes of on-field action. After two group stage meetings, a two-legged quarter-final and three two-legged semi-finals, this rivalry would end in a 2-1-2 record, leaving this feud without a winner. However, in terms of individual legs of the knockout matches, Chelsea was victorious, winning four games to Liverpool’s two. Rafa Benitez was the constant across this period, manging Liverpool in all five of these seasons, first facing off against Jose Mourinho on three occasions before losing to Avram Grant and Guus Hiddink in later matches. In addition, four players would start all ten of these matches: Petr Cech, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba for Chelsea, and Jamie Carragher for Liverpool.
As you may have noticed, the discussion about each of these match-ups begins with a few sentences regarding the specific performances of Liverpool and Chelsea in the Premier League before the two teams faced each other in Europe. These sentences talk about each team’s relative position in the overall league table, the margin of difference between both team’s respective points totals and the match results of each Chelsea v Liverpool league game. These statistics can serve as a backdrop to how Liverpool and Chelsea compared before each meeting in the Champions League. Furthermore, the domestic stats for each season from 2004/05 to 2008/09 can potentially show a pattern of how these two teams changed between their first meeting in the 2005 semi-finals to their final meeting in the 2009 quarter-finals.
When Liverpool and Chelsea met in the semi-finals of the 2005 Champions League, 31 points separated the teams in the Premier League table. Jose Mourinho would soon be leading Chelsea towards a dominant and record-breaking Premier League triumph. Simultaneously, Liverpool was struggling to even qualify for the following season’s Champions League in Rafa Benitez’s debut season in charge. Chelsea had even completed the league double over Liverpool that year. However, when the teams met in that two-legged semi-final, Liverpool would prove themselves more than a match for double-winning Chelsea. Liverpool went into this particular tie as the underdog, yet defied the odds to knock The Blues out of the Champions League. As the seasons progressed, Liverpool would move to close the points gap on Chelsea in the Premier League, the former sticking with the same manager throughout everything while the latter chopped and changed the man at the helm. By the 2008-09 season, Liverpool had overtaken Chelsea domestically, serving as Manchester United’s main rival for the Premier League title as the Reds peaked during this campaign.
The relative difference domestically between Chelsea and Liverpool prior to each Champions League knockout tie
| Chelsea | Liverpool | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Premier League Position | Premier League Points | Premier League Position | Premier League Points | UEFA Champions League Round | Champions League result on aggregate (individual legs in brackets) |
| 2004-05 | 1st | 85 | 5th | 54 | Semi-finals | Liverpool bt Chelsea 1-0 (0-0, 1-0) |
| 2006-07 | 2nd | 79 | 3rd | 67 | Semi-finals | Liverpool bt Chelsea 1-1 (4-1 pens) (0-1, 1-0) |
| 2007-08 | 2nd | 78 | 4th | 69 | Semi-finals | Chelsea bt Liverpool 4-3 (1-1, 3-2) |
| 2008-09 | 3rd | 64 | 2nd | 67 | Quarter-finals | Chelsea bt Liverpool 7-5 (3-1, 4-4) |
However, as you can see from the table above, while the tide started to turn in Liverpool’s favour on the domestic front, the opposite would occur on the continental side. After losing 1-0 to Liverpool in 2005, Chelsea would lose on penalties in 2007 before finally beating them in 2008 (4-3) and beating them more convincingly in 2009 (7-5). The earlier matches had been tighter affairs, where one goal would see Liverpool prevail over Chelsea. However, the games had started to become increasingly open by the end, with this approach more likely to favour Chelsea. It was akin to watching a boxing match, where the man in red wins the early rounds by picking his shots well, before the man in blue builds in confidence and ends up beating the man in red by a unanimous decision.
The 2009 quarter-final is the most recent meeting between Liverpool and Chelsea in the Champions League. The season afterwards, eventual winners would eliminate Chelsea at the round of 16, while Liverpool would fail to make it out of their preliminary group. That season would end with Liverpool sacking Rafa Benitez as their manager while Chelsea won the Premier League and FA Cup double under Carlo Ancelotti. Over the following two seasons, Chelsea would reach the quarter-finals in 2011 before winning the whole thing in 2012, while Liverpool would spin their wheels in the Europa League. Liverpool would have to wait until 2018 to reach another Champions League final and a further year to win their sixth title, producing magical performances along the way.
However, for every win in Istanbul, Munich or Madrid, particular Champions League fans will find it hard to forget those ten matches equally split between Liverpool and London. Theirs was a rivalry that showed the Champions League at its dramatic best, where two elite clubs came together to provide incredible entertainment.
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